NHL: Flyers believe they found their stride

Philadelphia Flyers' Danny Briere (48) celebrates with Ilya Bryzgalov (30), of Russia, after their 2-1 over the Ottawa Senators in an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 2, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)

VOORHEES, N.J. — It’s a new season for the Flyers, or at least that’s what they’re telling themselves.

Beginning with a nervy, 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators Saturday, the Flyers began a month of March that they feel could spell the difference between the way they felt during their one-week training camp and the way they felt a month later.

From confident to frustrated. But never did they panic.

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“We’re slowly climbing,” Danny Briere said Monday. “We put ourselves in such a deep hole early on, we knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. It was something that you have to chip away slowly. We’re climbing up a little bit at a time.”

In the past few weeks, that’s exactly what the Flyers (23 points) have been doing.

“There were some games there where it wasn’t as pretty, but you can sense the chemistry is starting to set in between the lines and players are feeling more and more comfortable between themselves,” Briere said. “That’s a good sign. Early in the season it was a little bit rough. We weren’t creating any offense. When you lose games, you have the feeling that you’re not accomplishing anything.”

In their last 15 games, however, the Flyers have gone a not-so-shabby 9-5-1. And through Sunday, they had climbed into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Not that it means much when you’ve been a lot busier than your nearby competition.

With a New York-sized challenge awaiting Tuesday night against the Rangers, the Flyers know that for all the hay they’ve made in the standings, there’s still a lot of bailing out to do as they’ve reached their halfway point of the short season. If they don’t know it, they will after playing four games in the next six nights, a stretch that includes games against such daunting conference foes as Pittsburgh, Boston and...

“You can’t overlook the Rangers,” Briere said. “They’re a tough team. It’s a rivalry game, and that’s where the focus is right now. We’ll deal with the other teams after that.”

Conference favorites, the Rangers (22 points) have played way below par, too. Yet like the Flyers, they’ve won two games in a row to stay right on the Flyers’ heels. Oh, and the Rangers have played three less games.

“This is the fun part,” said Mike Knuble, who after a couple of healthy game days off will be back in with Harry Zolnierczyk serving a four-game suspension. “You’ve got to look at it as fun. This is great. This is what you’re playing for.”

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Zolnierczyk, the rookie from Brown who in recent games was putting some distance between himself and his presumed status as temporary AHL promotee, put his progress in danger with an ugly pair of hits in the Flyers’ last two games against the Senators and Capitals.

While Zolnierczyk had no trouble getting around a kneeing game misconduct in the final minute of a victory over Washington Wednesday — mainly because he didn’t knee Mathieu Perreault — he did earn the steepest penalty that’s been put out by the league so far this season by going up to high and leaving Ottawa’s Mike Lundin Saturday.

“I respect the league’s decision. I don’t like it, but ultimately, I respect it,” Zolnierczyk said. “My job is to go out there and deliver a hard hit. That’s what I tried to do. Obviously, I had no intent of trying to get the guy’s head. That was the case. I apologized to him and that’s it.”

Zolnierczyk is still getting the support of sympathetic coach Peter Laviolette.

“One of those unfortunate incidents,” is what Laviolette called it Monday. “I don’t think Harry wanted to propel himself off the ice, but the other kid was stopping and pulling backwards which made Harry come up over the top of him and it is what it is. He got the games, and Harry will serve them because he has no choice. But we’ll miss him in the lineup because he brings a lot of energy to our team.”

NOTES: Some 12 days into what was supposed to be a six-week absence with muscle tears in his rib area, Matt Read practiced in full Monday and said he’s feeling better. What that means is that the pain he’s been working through might almost be down from horrible to just severe. As a result, Read says he might only be a week away from returning. Or, he added, two or three weeks. Either way, he’s ahead of schedule. “It’s getting better every day, but at the same time, I don’t want to reinjure myself,” Read said. “When I come back I want to make sure it’s 100 percent, so that when I get hit in a game I am strong enough to take it and play through the (pain).” ... Knuble on being a healthy scratch the past two games: “I’m not going to beat myself up. Of course, you don’t like it, but there’s a difference between not liking it and beating yourself up about it.”